The invention relates generally to an oral exercise device and a method of using the oral exercise device, and more particularly to an oral exercise device for the tongue.
The tongue and additional lingua musculature, like other muscles of the body, must be exercised in order to maintain muscle mass and strength. Failure to properly maintain muscle mass and strength of the tongue may lead to disorders such as dysphagia and dysarthria.
Difficulty in swallowing (dysphagia) and difficulty of speech (dysarthria) are common among all age groups, especially the elderly. Both difficulties may occur because of a natural loss of muscle mass and strength or may occur because of a secondary loss of muscle mass and strength following other conditions. One group of conditions includes damage to the nervous system, such as occurs in stroke, brain injury, spinal cord injury, Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease), muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy and Alzheimer's disease. Another group of conditions includes problems affecting the head and neck, such as cancer in the mouth, throat or esophagus; injury or surgery involving the head and neck; and decayed or missing teeth, or poorly fitting dentures. A final group of conditions includes other diseases, conditions or surgical interventions that affect the tongue or the nerves that innervate the tongue.
Dysphagia may be treated by a variety of procedures. For example, a subject may simply switch to a diet with specific food and liquid textures that are easier and safer to swallow. Alternatively, dysphagia may be attenuated or ameliorated by swallowing therapy, which may include special exercises for coordinating and strengthening the swallowing muscles or restimulating the nerves that trigger the swallow response.
Dysarthria may also be treated by a variety of procedures. For example, a subject may work with a speech-language pathologist to improve speech sounds. Alternatively, dysarthria may be altered by special exercises for coordinating and strengthening the speech muscles, particularly the tongue.
As applied to dysphagia and dysarthria, a number of devices and methods have been developed to exercise the tongue. For example, a clinician may simply have a subject press against a tongue depressor with his or her tongue. However, many subjects find a tongue depressor uncomfortable, and it can elicit a gag reflex. Also, a tongue depressor requires the assistance of a clinician, which can make it difficult to perform regular exercise of the tongue. Additionally, a tongue depressor is discarded after use, which creates waste. Finally, the pressure applied to the tongue by a tongue depressor is difficult to determine and pushing against a tongue depressor can be unsatisfying and provide little sense of progress to the subject.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,050,961 discloses a system designed to address the problems associated with a tongue depressor for treating dysphagia and dysarthria. The system utilizes a pair of planks and a pneumatic bulb positioned between the planks. The bulb is further coupled to a meter that can display the strength and the duration of force applied to the pneumatic bulb by a subject's teeth or tongue. While the bulb compresses slightly, the intent of this device is to measure a static force on the levers at a particular separation of the levers set by an adjustment plate. This system provides feedback to the user and is reusable, but is relatively complex, expensive, of limited durability or lifespan as the bulb punctures and changes elasticity, and ill-suited to regular use by a subject as part of an exercise regime.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,702,765, assigned to the same assignee as the present invention, and hereby incorporated by reference, discloses a system eliminating the pneumatic bulb and providing a compact electronic system for pressure measurement within a clinical setting.